The 2019 Florida Statutes

(1) The corporation may approve or deny, by a majority vote of the membership of the directors, a guaranty of debt service payments for bonds or other indebtedness used to finance any capital project that promotes economic development in the state, including, but not limited to, those capital projects for which revenue bonds are issued under this act, if any such guaranty does not exceed 5 percent of the total aggregate principal amount of bonds or other indebtedness relating to any one capital project. The corporation may also use moneys deposited into the Energy, Technology, and Economic Development Guaranty Fund to satisfy requirements to obtain federal loan guarantees for capital projects authorized pursuant to this section.

(2) Any applicant requesting a guaranty of the corporation under this act must submit a guaranty application, in a form acceptable to the corporation, together with supporting documentation to the corporation as provided in this section.

(3) All applicants which have entered into a guaranty agreement with the corporation shall pay a guaranty premium on such terms and at such rates as the corporation shall determine before the issuance of the guaranty. The corporation may adopt such guaranty premium structures as it deems appropriate, including, without limitation, guaranty premiums which are payable one time upon the issuance of the guaranty or annual premiums payable upon the outstanding principal balance of bonds or other indebtedness that is guaranteed from time to time. The premium payment may be collected by the corporation from any lessee of the project involved, from the applicant, or from any other payee of any loan agreement involved.

(4) All applications for a guaranty must acknowledge that as a condition to the issuance of the guaranty, the corporation may require that the financing must be secured by a mortgage or security interest on the property acquired which will have such priority over other liens on such property as may be required by the corporation, and that the financing must be guaranteed by such person or persons with such ownership interest in the applicant as may be required by the corporation.

(5) Personal financial records, trade secrets, or proprietary information of applicants delivered to or obtained by the corporation shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).

(6) If the application for a guaranty is approved by the corporation, the corporation and the applicant shall enter into a guaranty agreement. In accordance with the provisions of the guaranty agreement, the corporation guarantees to use the funds on deposit in its Energy, Technology, and Economic Development Guaranty Fund to meet debt service payments on the bonds or indebtedness as they become due, in the event and to the extent that the applicant is unable to meet such payments, or to make similar payments to reimburse any person which has provided credit enhancement for the bonds and which has advanced funds to meet such debt service payments as they become due, if such guaranty of the corporation is limited to 5 percent of the total aggregate principal amount of bonds or other indebtedness relating to any one capital project. The corporation may also use moneys deposited in the Energy, Technology, and Economic Development Guaranty Fund to satisfy requirements to obtain federal loan guarantees for capital projects authorized under this section. If the applicant defaults on debt service payments, the corporation may use funds on deposit in the Energy, Technology, and Economic Development Guaranty Fund to pay insurance, maintenance, and other costs which may be required for the preservation of any capital project or other collateral security for any bond or indebtedness issued to finance a capital project for which debt service payments are guaranteed by the corporation in such manner as may be deemed necessary and advisable by the corporation.

(7) The guaranty is not a general obligation of the corporation or of the state, but is a special obligation, which constitutes the investment of a public trust fund. In no event shall the guaranty constitute an indebtedness of the corporation, the state, or any political subdivision thereof within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory limitation. Each guaranty agreement shall have plainly stated on the face thereof that it has been entered into under the provisions of this act and that it does not constitute an indebtedness of the corporation, the state, or any political subdivision thereof within any constitutional or statutory limitation, and that neither the full faith and credit of the state nor any of its revenues is pledged to meet any of the obligations of the corporation under such guaranty agreement. Each such agreement shall state that the obligation of the corporation under the guaranty shall be limited to the funds available in the Energy, Technology, and Economic Development Guaranty Fund as authorized by this section.

(8) In the event the corporation does not approve the application for a guaranty, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the corporation’s determination that the application not be approved.

(9) The membership of the corporation is authorized and directed to conduct such investigation as it may deem necessary for promulgation of regulations to govern the operation of the guaranty program authorized by this section. The regulations may include such other additional provisions, restrictions, and conditions as the corporation, after its investigation referred to in this subsection, shall determine to be proper to achieve the most effective utilization of the guaranty program. This may include, without limitation, a detailing of the remedies that must be exhausted by bondholders, a trustee acting on their behalf, or other credit provided before calling upon the corporation to perform under its guaranty agreement and the subrogation of other rights of the corporation with reference to the capital project and its operation or the financing in the event the corporation makes payment pursuant to the applicable guaranty agreement. The regulations promulgated by the corporation to govern the operation of the guaranty program may contain specific provisions with respect to the rights of the corporation to enter, take over, and manage all financed properties upon default. These regulations shall be submitted by the corporation to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for approval.

(10) The guaranty program described in this section may be used by the corporation in conjunction with any federal guaranty programs described in s. 406 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. All policies, procedures, and regulations of the guaranty program adopted by the corporation, to the extent such guaranty program of the corporation is used in conjunction with a federal guaranty program described in s. 406 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, must be consistent with s. 406 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.